Overview

Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying ...

More About
This Book

Overview

Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.

In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

"In crisp, precise prose, Oppel imagines an alternate past where zeppelins crowd the skies over the Atlanticus and the Pacificus, and luxury liners travel the air rather than the sea," wrote PW. "The author's inviting new world will stoke readers' imaginations." Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

AGERANGE: Ages 12 up.

"Up Ship!" That is the cry of the Aurora crew as the airship takes flight over the Pacificus ocean. Thus begins this adventure of the skies filled with a luxury airship, dedicated crew, rich passengers, greedy pirates, mid-air rescue, shipwreck, and a dead man's discovery of a strange creature. Matt Cruse, a cabin boy who aspires to be sailmaker, is the likable protagonist in this captivating tale. This lighter than air cabin boy proves his mettle when he attempts and succeeds in rescuing an elderly man from a damaged hot air balloon stranded in the sky. Although the man ultimately dies, he leaves behind a journal with entries and sketches of fantastic sightings of flying creatures--half mammal and half reptile. One year later, his granddaughter Kate DeVries, is flying over the Pacificus on the Aurora to try to validate her grandfather's sightings. When this headstrong heroine joins forces with Matt Cruse, sparks fly. They outsmart her dreadful chaperone, defy ship regulations, and battle fierce pirates in moving toward Kate's goal. Matt is an engaging character. His heart is in the right place and he always tries to do the right thing, even in the face of difficult circumstances. When Captain Walken informs him that he has lost his promotion to sailmaker because of nepotism, Matt soldiers on, chin held high, no dereliction in duties. And when facing down pirates and the carnivorous cloud creature, Matt keeps his cool. This recording, which includes ten CDs and lasts ten hours, will leave listeners hanging on the edge of their seats. The voices of the actors bring the characters to life; they are full of enthusiasm, evil intent, haughtiness, and pride, as thesituation demands. The recording has such energy and will transport listeners to a different place and time as they get caught up in this good, old-fashioned, thrilling adventure story. The print version of the book, on which the recording is based, was selected as a Printz Honor Book. Reviewer: Jeanne K. Pettenati, J.D.

VOYA

Frustrated by his lowly cabin-boy status, Matt Cruse is bent on advancing in rank while serving on the mammoth airship Aurora. When a damaged balloon piloted by a weakened elderly man draws near the dirigible, Matt's diminutive size is an asset. The intrepid teen volunteers to leap the narrow gap between the aircraft and rescue the balloonist. Saved but dying, the pilot demands to know if Matt saw the "flying beasts." Flashing ahead one year, the Aurora embarks on a voyage transporting passengers from Lionsgate City to Sydney, Australia. A late-arriving teen, Kate de Vries, charms Matt, launching a platonic courtship. Isolated in the vast atmosphere above the ocean, the Aurora is plundered by pirates, its gasbags slashed by the rogue vessel's propellers, and the airship crashes onto a desert island, the buccaneer hideout. Exploring the jungle, Kate and Matt encounter elusive Cloud Cats, the mysterious flying beasts described by the dying balloonist. Captured and imprisoned by the pirate gang, the duo escapes only to stumble onto an underground deposit of hydrium necessary to raise the ship, but first they must thwart the robber's plans to murder Aurora's crew. Kate and Matt are given equal roles in this adventure laced with a touch of fantasy reminiscent of Treasure Island and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Committing several murders, the pirates are typically unsavory but are not stock cartoon characters. This title, packed with suspense, fantasy, and thrills, is a solid selection geared to middle school boys. VOYA Codes 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9;Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, HarperCollins, 368p., and PLB Ages 11 to 18.
—Rollie Welch

KLIATT

Oppel, the author of the Silverwing series about bats, turns his attention here to other things that fly: blimp-like airships that travel the skyways, as well as mysterious winged mammals dubbed "cloud cats." Our protagonist and narrator is brave young Matt, a cabin boy on the airship Aurora. When a hot-air balloon threatens to collide with the Aurora, agile Matt is able to swing over and avert catastrophe. The gravely ill balloonist mutters about seeing strange flying creatures, and at first Matt thinks he's raving. Then, a year later, the balloonist's granddaughter, Kate, arrives on the Aurora as a passenger, eager to further investigate the existence of these animals. When the airship is boarded by pirates and then crash-lands on an uncharted desert island near where Kate's grandfather had spotted the creatures, the two young people explore their surroundings and encounter a beautiful but dangerous specimen. This fantasy is set in an unspecified era, perhaps 100 years ago, when girls were expected to act ladylike—of course Kate is uninterested in becoming a lady, and instead eager to become a scientist. She is as brave as Matt, and the two have adventure after adventure in this exciting tale, which will appeal to upper elementary, middle school, and junior high students. KLIATT Codes: J*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior high school students. 2004, HarperCollins, 368p., and Ages 12 to 15.
—Paula Rohrlick

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-An original and imaginative Victorian-era fantasy. Matt, 15, only feels alive when he's aloft working as a cabin boy aboard the Aurora, a luxury airship that is part dirigible, part passenger cruise ship. When wealthy Kate and her chaperone come aboard, Matt soon discovers that she is determined to prove her grandfather's claims that he saw strange creatures flying in the sky in that area the year before. The man's diary describes them as huge, furry beasts with batlike wings and sharp claws. Soon after Kate arrives, pirates attack the ship and rob the wealthy passengers. A storm forces the damaged Aurora to set down on a seemingly deserted island. Kate and Matt discover the skeletal remains of one of the creatures, and, later, a live but deformed one that lives among the treetops. In their attempts to photograph "the cloud cat," they stumble upon the pirates' hideout and are captured. Can they escape in time to stop the brigands from stealing the Aurora? Will Kate prove the existence of this undiscovered species? This rousing adventure has something for everyone: appealing and enterprising characters, nasty villains, and a little romance. Oppel provides glimpses of the social conventions of the era, humorous byplay between the main characters, and comic relief in the form of Matt's cabin mate and Kate's straitlaced chaperone. Reminiscent of Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines (HarperCollins, 2003), this adventure is much lighter in tone and has a lower body count.-Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 6–10
Once in a long while, an adventure story captures the mind and the heart of listeners/readers, creating a miniature world that makes a deep impression on them. Such is the case with Kenneth Oppel's Printz Honor Book (Eos, 2004) which weaves a magical tale of adventure, treachery, friendship, and courage. Taking place in a future where airships and blimps travel across the Atlanticus and the Pacificus Oceans, cabin boy Matt Cruse, on board the Aurora , battles pirates and prehistoric cloudcats, accompanied by spirited heiress Kate DeVries. A cast of 32 actors, including high school sophomore David Kelly (as the voice of Matt Cruse), delivers riveting narration and excellent vocal special effects (such as the ship's captain speaking through his radio). Full of fun, adventure, and heart, Airborn makes for a one-of-kind listening experience. Fans of period history, science fiction, and adventure will cheer Matt along. This ALSC 2007 Notable Recording and YALSA 2007 Selected Audiobook for Young Adults is a must for young adult collections.
—Larry CoopermanCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Entrancing, exciting adventure with airships, pirates, and mysterious flying mammals takes place on an earth with the same geography as ours but different technology. Fifteen-year-old Matt works as cabin boy on the Aurora, a two-million-pound airship kept aloft by gas cells filled with hydrium, the lightest gas in the world. Matt loves the skies; aground, he feels stifled and claustrophobically disconnected from his late father, who was also an Aurora worker. Kate, a rich passenger Matt's age, boards the Aurora in search of furry, flying sky mammals mentioned in her late grandfather's journal but unknown to anyone else. A pirate attack forces an emergency landing on an uncharted island in the Pacificus ocean. Matt's intricate knowledge of his ship and Kate's cheerfully stubborn determination bring them, scrabbling hard, to victory over the brutal pirates and discovery of the wondrous cloud cats. Full of a sense of air, flying details, and action. (airship diagram) (Fantasy. 10-14)

Related Subjects

Meet the Author

KENNETH OPPEL is the Governor General’s Award–winning author of the Airborn series and the Silverwing Saga, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. His most recent novels are Half Brother, winner of both the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award and the Young Adult Book Award; This Dark Endeavour, finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award; and Such Wicked Intent, finalist for the CLA Young Adult Book Award. Canada’s nominated author for the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award, he lives in Toronto with his wife and three children.

Read an Excerpt

Airborn EPB

Chapter One

Ship's Eyes

Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud.

The sky pulsed with stars. Some people say it makes them lonesome when they stare up at the night sky. I can't imagine why. There's no shortage of company. By now there's not a constellation I can't name. Orion. Lupus. Serpens. Hercules. Draco. My father taught me all their stories. So when I look up I see a galaxy of adventures and heroes and villains, all jostling together and trying to outdo one another, and I sometimes want to tell them to hush up and not distract me with their chatter. I've glimpsed all the stars ever discovered by astronomers, and plenty that haven't been. There're the planets to look at too, depending on the time of year. Venus. Mercury. Mars. And don't forget Old Man Moon. I know every crease and pockmark on that face of his.

My watch was almost at an end, and I was looking forward to climbing into my bunk, sliding under warm blankets and into a deep sleep. Even though it was only September and we were crossing the equator, it was still cool at night up in the crow's nest, parting the winds at seventy-five miles an hour. I was grateful for my fleece-lined coat.

Spyglass to my face, I slowly swept the heavens. Here at the Aurora's summit, shielded by a glass observation dome, I had a three-sixtyview of the sky around and above the ship. The lookout's job was to watch for weather changes and for other ships. Over the Pacificus, you didn't see much traffic, though earlier I'd caught the distant flicker of a freighter, ploughing the waves toward the Orient. But boats were no concern of ours. We sailed eight hundred feet above them.

The smell of fresh-baked bread wafted up to me. Far below, in the ship's kitchens, they were taking out the first loaves and rolls and cinnamon buns and croissants and Danishes. I inhaled deeply. A better smell than this I couldn't imagine, and my stomach gave a hungry twist. In a few minutes, Mr. Riddihoff would be climbing the ladder to take the watch, and I could swing past the kitchen and see if the ship's baker was willing to part with a bun or two. He almost always was.

A shooting star slit the sky. That made one hundred and six I'd seen this season; I'd been keeping track. Baz and I had a little contest going, and I was in the lead by twelve stars.

Then I saw it.

Or didn't see it. Because at first all I noticed was a blackness where stars should have been. I raised my spyglass again and, with the help of the moon, caught a glimpse.

It was a hot air balloon, hanging there in the night sky.

Its running lights weren't on, which was odd. The balloon was higher than us by about a hundred feet, drifting off our starboard bow. The burner came on suddenly, jetting blue flame to heat the air in the balloon's envelope for a few seconds. But I couldn't see anyone at the controls. They must have been set on a clockwork timer. Nobody was moving around in the gondola. It was deep and wide, big enough for a kind of sleeping cabin on one side, and plenty of storage underneath. I couldn't ever recall seeing a balloon this far out. I lifted the speaking tube to my mouth.

"Crow's nest reporting."

I waited a moment as my voice hurtled down through the tube, one hundred fifty feet to the control car suspended from the Aurora's belly.

"Go ahead, Mr. Cruse."

It was Captain Walken on watch tonight, and I was glad, for I much preferred him to the other officers. Some of them just called me "Cruse" or "boy," figuring I wasn't worth a "mister" on account of my age. But never the captain. To him I was always Mr. Cruse, and it got so that I'd almost started to think of myself as a mister. Whenever I was back in Lionsgate City on shore leave and my mother or sisters called me Matt, my own name sounded strange to me at first.

"Hot air balloon at one o'clock, maybe a half mile off, one hundred feet up."

"Thank you, Mr. Cruse." There was a pause, and I knew the captain would be looking out the enormous wraparound windows of the control car. Because it was set well back from the bow, its view of anything high overhead was limited. That's why there was always a watch posted in the forward crow's nest. The Aurora needed a set of eyes up top.

"Yes, I see it now. Well spotted, Mr. Cruse. Can you make out its markings? We'll train the light on it."

Mounted at the front of the control car was a powerful spotlight. Its beam cut a blazing swath through the night and struck the balloon. It was in a sorry state, withered and puckered. It was leaking, or maybe the burner wasn't working properly.

"The Endurance," I read into the speaking tube.

She looked like she'd endured a bit too much. Maybe a storm had punctured her envelope or bashed her about some.

And still no sign of the pilot in the gondola.

Along the length of the speaking tube I heard tinny murmurings from the control car as the captain conferred with the bridge officers.

"It's not on the flight plan," I heard Mr. Torbay, the navigator, say.

Table of Contents

First Chapter

Airborn

By Kenneth Oppel

Eos

ISBN: 0-06-053180-0

Chapter One

Ship's Eyes

Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud.

The sky pulsed with stars. Some people say it makes them lonesome when they stare up at the night sky. I can't imagine why. There's no shortage of company. By now there's not a constellation I can't name. Orion. Lupus. Serpens. Hercules. Draco. My father taught me all their stories. So when I look up I see a galaxy of adventures and heroes and villains, all jostling together and trying to outdo one another, and I sometimes want to tell them to hush up and not distract me with their chatter. I've glimpsed all the stars ever discovered by astronomers, and plenty that haven't been. There're the planets to look at too, depending on the time of year. Venus. Mercury. Mars. And don't forget Old Man Moon. I know every crease and pockmark on that face of his.

My watch was almost at an end, and I was looking forward to climbing into my bunk, sliding under warm blankets and into a deep sleep. Even though it was only September and we were crossing the equator, it was still cool at night up in the crow's nest, parting the winds at seventy-five miles anhour. I was grateful for my fleece-lined coat.

Spyglass to my face, I slowly swept the heavens. Here at the Aurora's summit, shielded by a glass observation dome, I had a three-sixty view of the sky around and above the ship. The lookout's job was to watch for weather changes and for other ships. Over the Pacificus, you didn't see much traffic, though earlier I'd caught the distant flicker of a freighter, ploughing the waves toward the Orient. But boats were no concern of ours. We sailed eight hundred feet above them.

The smell of fresh-baked bread wafted up to me. Far below, in the ship's kitchens, they were taking out the first loaves and rolls and cinnamon buns and croissants and Danishes. I inhaled deeply. A better smell than this I couldn't imagine, and my stomach gave a hungry twist. In a few minutes, Mr. Riddihoff would be climbing the ladder to take the watch, and I could swing past the kitchen and see if the ship's baker was willing to part with a bun or two. He almost always was.

A shooting star slit the sky. That made one hundred and six I'd seen this season; I'd been keeping track. Baz and I had a little contest going, and I was in the lead by twelve stars.

Then I saw it.

Or didn't see it. Because at first all I noticed was a blackness where stars should have been. I raised my spyglass again and, with the help of the moon, caught a glimpse.

It was a hot air balloon, hanging there in the night sky.

Its running lights weren't on, which was odd. The balloon was higher than us by about a hundred feet, drifting off our starboard bow. The burner came on suddenly, jetting blue flame to heat the air in the balloon's envelope for a few seconds. But I couldn't see anyone at the controls. They must have been set on a clockwork timer. Nobody was moving around in the gondola. It was deep and wide, big enough for a kind of sleeping cabin on one side, and plenty of storage underneath. I couldn't ever recall seeing a balloon this far out. I lifted the speaking tube to my mouth.

"Crow's nest reporting."

I waited a moment as my voice hurtled down through the tube, one hundred fifty feet to the control car suspended from the Aurora's belly.

"Go ahead, Mr. Cruse."

It was Captain Walken on watch tonight, and I was glad, for I much preferred him to the other officers. Some of them just called me "Cruse" or "boy," figuring I wasn't worth a "mister" on account of my age. But never the captain. To him I was always Mr. Cruse, and it got so that I'd almost started to think of myself as a mister. Whenever I was back in Lionsgate City on shore leave and my mother or sisters called me Matt, my own name sounded strange to me at first.

"Hot air balloon at one o'clock, maybe a half mile off, one hundred feet up."

"Thank you, Mr. Cruse." There was a pause, and I knew the captain would be looking out the enormous wraparound windows of the control car. Because it was set well back from the bow, its view of anything high overhead was limited. That's why there was always a watch posted in the forward crow's nest. The Aurora needed a set of eyes up top.

"Yes, I see it now. Well spotted, Mr. Cruse. Can you make out its markings? We'll train the light on it."

Mounted at the front of the control car was a powerful spotlight. Its beam cut a blazing swath through the night and struck the balloon. It was in a sorry state, withered and puckered. It was leaking, or maybe the burner wasn't working properly.

"The Endurance," I read into the speaking tube.

She looked like she'd endured a bit too much. Maybe a storm had punctured her envelope or bashed her about some.

And still no sign of the pilot in the gondola.

Along the length of the speaking tube I heard tinny murmurings from the control car as the captain conferred with the bridge officers.

"It's not on the flight plan," I heard Mr. Torbay, the navigator, say.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Airborn by Kenneth Oppel Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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This is a must read book.

"Airborn" is a great book for young adults who like adventure stories. This book has a little bit of romance and a lot of adventure. I'd say "Airborn" is 5 out of 5. I was sad when I got close to the end of the book because I didn't want it to over, I wanted to keep reading. In "Airborn" Matt Cruse, a cabin boy among a passenger airliner meets a girl who is hot on the trail her grandfather set for to see what he saw. "Beautiful creatures". The lady's name is Kate de Vries. Kate and Matt become friends and Matt takes an interest in Kate's creatures and helps her on the quest of finding them.Kate had set up a camera hoping to catch a photograph of the creatures. But something happen in her favor. The crew and passengers are all in distress except for Kate de Vries.

16 out of 18 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted April 1, 2012

Captivating

I was required to read this book when I was in 6th grade, and I surprised myself by enjoying it as much as I did. I am now in 7th grade and need a book to read (if you knew me, you would know thar I am a total bookworm). I decided to reread this captivating book. Kenneth Opel entices the reader with unexpected turns in the plot and beatifully brings the characters to life with real personalities. This is the type of book that will make any good girl a naughy one by making her stay up reading under the covers with a flashligh. My advice; read it over the weekend or just don't get caught.

11 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

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Marvelous adventure!!

Kenneth Oppel has a wonderful way with words--it is so easy to lose myself in this book. The imagery is stunning and all the actions and dialogue happen so smoothly and naturally.

The characters were fresh and marvelous -- who can resist Matt? :3

All in all, I'm so glad I have finally found my way into this trilogy. It seems like it will be such a fun read. I can't wait to pick up the next one! :D

9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 15, 2011

fabulous, imaginative, compelling adventure!

This was a really really REALLY good book!!! The kind that you enjoy so much that you can't wait to get back to reading it and you think about it when you're not reading it. I was sad to finish it, but luckily, there's two more in the series. I'm now reading the sequel, Skybreaker, and yes, it is even better than Airborn!! Kenneth Oppel makes me wish I could fly on his wonderful airships, and his writing is so good that I can actually see and imagine them in my mind - the best kind of writing.

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted October 22, 2009

A Story in the Skies

Matt Cruse has the perfect life. He is cabin boy aboard the airship Aurora. Then he encounters a dying man floating in the skies that speaks of a bird not yet discovered. Soon he will meet a girl with a story recorded in a very special diary which eventually brings them to a mysterious island infested with evil pirates and the very creatures that brought them there.
You will soar high as Kenneth Oppel brings you into the air in this amazing book. Can you feel the wind in your face yet?

7 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 18, 2013

There r sequels

They 2nd book is skylander (i think) and the 3rd is starclimber. This series is fantastic! His style of writing transports you to the one who was born in the skies. :) hope this helps.

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted December 23, 2012

My Favorite Book

Amazing,hope they make a movie.Kate Is amazing

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 24, 2013

Best. Book. Ever.

Airborn is the most creative book I have ever read! Just the right balance of adventure, mystery, and romance; Airborn and its sequels are sure to enspire hours of daydreaming filled with wonders of the mysterious sky.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted December 16, 2012

To the writer of "Should I"

YES YOU SHOULD!!!!!!!!!!!

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 3, 2012

It catchs your attion from the start. It is wonderfully diffrent!

It's got this exciting life of daring chacters that are each to there own and grasp your heart in some way from the moment you meet them. Then just mixing it in with a heart pumping, page turning polt. This book is a winner all a round.

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted December 10, 2012

RainbowDash

The book was marvelous. I enjoyed every second of it and I could NOT put it down. :) It is action packed, romantic, thrilling, and a great read! Even though I was slighty dissapointed w\ the ending, I highly recommend it.

Read it & you won't regret it :)

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Reading360

Posted October 9, 2010

Awesome

This book is amazing! I read more then half the book within 3 hours,over the summer.I was so hooked and this book turned me to adventure novels. I recommend this to anyone who has read any type of adventure or is even just getting used to it,because this book will change your reading habits!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted April 7, 2013

Anonymous

Vivid writing and bold characters make this book a masterpiece. The lovable, realistic protagonist, matt cruse, is a cabin boy on a luxury airship. He was literally 'airborn'(you will understand what i mean when you read it). When he meets passenger kate de vries, a plucky girl determined to set her eyes on the beautiful creatures her dead grandfather wrote about, he gets involved in her quest. The two soon find themselves on a action-packed, swashbuckling adventure. Airborn is the first in a trilogy. The second book is Skybreaker and the third Starclimber. This trilogy is an alternate history of the early 1900s, in which matt goes on many adventures in the sky.I would recommend this fresh, fascinating read, and the entire series, to lovers of fantasy, action, historical fiction, science fiction, and mystery. As you can see, Oppels incorparates many different genres!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted July 23, 2012

Listen to this

Its about a boy who loves sailing a blimp and how he gets mixed up in kate and her graandfathers stories. They land on an island and find the cloud cat that kates grandfather is always blambling about. Then pirates attack, kate and matt kiss, and they rescue the blimp and passengers. Its an okay read alittle boring. The parts were matt is flyinng with his dead father in his dreams (matts 15) is really weird. And how he freaks out wheen he is on land.... not neccesary. But okay i guess. Not one of oppels best books. Not worth paying for it. Better go to the library!!! : ) hope that helped!!!

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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katedevries

Posted September 26, 2010

I Also Recommend:

MUST READ FOR ANY TEEN

After reading the first chapter i was hooked. There was excitment after every turn of the page. You feel like your right there throughout the entire adventure, right along with the action, love, and triumph. I believe this is movie material.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 31, 2004

Super Adventure!!!

Wow, what a fantastic adventure. I was a little skeptical to read it as the cover didn''t seem very interesting, but after I started reading Airborn, I was enthusiatically entralled. Airborn brings together the ideas of Treasure Island and Treasure Planet for a gripping adventure. The descriptive, vivid writing of Kenneth Oppel makes the reader feel they are there experiencing all the ups and downs of the characters. I enjoyed accompanying Matt and Kate aboard the airship, Aurora, as they search for an uncharted species that Kate's grandfather had briefly documented before he died aboard a hotair balloon. The pirate, a shipwreck, a typhoon, jumping snakes, and a beautiful yet deadly uncharted species makes the book hard to put down. Bravo Mr. Oppel! Well done!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted September 20, 2014

For Those Who Wish to Taste the Sky

You know that awesome feeling you get when you stand on the peak of a mountain or on the highest floor of a skyscraper and you can see the land below for miles? That's what you feel when reading this book.

I came across this book while listening to instrumentals based on flight. The artist claimed the music was based on Airborn by Kenneth Oppel—a soundtrack, if you will, to the book. So, I sought out this book and fell in love with it immediately.

While the book is action-filled and gets the reader's attention, the mentalities of the main character, Mr. Matt Cruise, and his love, The Wilful Ms. Kate de Vries, are the ideas that really hooked me. The way Oppel decribes Mr. Cruise's love of the sky and Ms. de Vries's curious mind and passion for science is truly beautiful. I relate quite a bit to these characters, given my love for the two subjects, also. Both characters are also hard-working, no matter how disadvantaged they are to society, and their ultimate goal is to attend some form of college. Therefore, this book sends a good message to young readers.

The settings are also breath-taking. I mean, who wouldn't want to live in the sky, flying over the seas? The descriptions of the foreign lands and desert islands create a surreal feeling—like you are flying, too.

Overall, this book is beautiful. That's all I can really describe it as. Beautiful.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted June 13, 2014

Grest
Grest
Great book!

I loved this book. I thought it was written excellently.

P.S. It is very sad the number one review has the worst spelling I have ever seen.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 15, 2013

Anonomous

This book is very good in content and details. Tap yes if my revew was helpful!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted February 3, 2013

Amazing!

I really enjoyed this wonderful book. It is packed with lots of adventure and pulls you in right away!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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